This Is How They Do It

 Most of the country--and maybe the world--is shut down because of the Covid 19 pandemic.  So we were surprised when we visited Telluride and Silverton to discover almost all of the shops and restaurants were open.  

How do they do it?--They make very clear the need to limit the number of people shopping at one time in a store.

Face mask signs are unavoidable and each store requests you use hand sanitizer before entering or touching any merchandise.

Even the Utah Visitor Office as we came into the state took special precautions to prevent coming in contact with other visitor's germs.  We looked for the materials we wanted, then went to the desk and asked for them.  That way, only the woman behind the counter touched the things we wanted.

In Silverton this sign offers $2 a minutes at the oxygen bar.  That is for flatlanders who are having a hard time functioning at 10,000 feet above sea level.

I got a kick out of this sign--I learned of buskers in Europe.  I didn't know that term was used in this country.

Restaurants offered outdoor seating.

However, in other restaurants, everyone was seated inside.

A Million Dollar Drive

The drive between Ouray and Silverton is part of the Million Dollar Highway.  It was built in the 1880s by Otto Mears to ship out ore from the silver mines in the area.  It passes over Red Mountain Pass at 11,018 feet.  There are no guardrails or shoulders.  The 25 miles of that road take about 42 minutes of drive.  The trip is a real delight to passengers.  I was very glad John was driving and I was doing the looking and photographing.

You can clearly see in the next two photos timberline or the tree line.  There is an altitude where there is not enough oxygen for trees to live.  

This is the visual on our GPS (really directions from the Map app on our phones).  Notice the hairpin curves in the road, as well as the information that the next 18 miles will take 34 minutes to drive.

As you can see, there isn't a shoulder  on  the right side of the road to allow a disabled vehicle to pull off.

Here you can see the drop off on the right side, unprotected by a shoulder of guardrail.

Another reminder of the curving road ahead--15 miles per hour, please.

 We have been on this road, either one-way and two-way, 3 or 5 times in recent years.  We never tire of the beauty.

Travel to Telluride

 The scenery along the route from Montrose to Telluride is spectacular.  Only the skies hazy with smoke from several wildfires limited the beauty.

The forest and rock formations are great.

 

Unfortunately, some unknown (so far) problem is causing large stands of Aspen to die.  

There are sharp peaks.

And long smoky vistas of other mountains.

In places, we had a good look at the different colors of stone in these mountains.

Telluride is right in the middle of these mountains at an elevation of 8750 feet above sea level.  This is a view along one of the side streets.  I was standing on Main Street.

We could tell where the ski trails are in the winter.  Notice how steep the roofs are.  It helps the snow to quickly slide off the buildings, rather than drifting on the roof and causing damage.

I love the paint job on this house and the attractive front porch.

This is a galloping goose. Signs like these marked the bus stop where people could wait for the rail-riding vehicle that traveled through town and between the mountain towns decades ago.

  

This is a galloping goose.

There is something about the thin mountain air that really helps flower baskets to thrive.  Aren’t these beautiful?

This sign tells a little about the mining past of Telluride.

More Hiking

Colorado is an absolutely beautiful state. Much of that beauty is found within the numerous National Monuments and National Parks in our state. Yesterday, we drove 17 miles out of Montrose to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.  Here you can see why it is called the Black Canyon.  Not only is the canyon carved out by the Gunnison River deep--meaning not much light reaches the lower part of the canyon.  In addition, much of the rock that the river cut through is a dark color.

Look at how narrow the canyon is.  Part of the canyon is 2,250 feet deep and it ranges from only 40 feet up to 1,100 feet wide.

This picturesque tree is on the canyon rim.

These steep canyon walls are quite popular with experienced rock climbers!  We hiked on the Rim Trail and Upland Trail, but I would never--now or in the past--have considered rock climbing.

The river continues to erode the rock walls, sometimes separating the rocks into narrow  outcrops.  We could look into the canyon for several overlooks.

A selfie of us with the canyon in the background.  I took off my hat.  Isn’t my white hat hair great?

 

Hiking In the Monument

 We had a great hike on the Liberty Cap Trail in Colorado National Monument.  The rock formations and scenery remind us a lot of Utah.  We will be seeing a lot of this scenery in the next month or two. The Liberty Cap Trail is 7 miles long, with the first 5.5 miles crossing Monument Mesa through Pinon-Juniper forest and sagebrush flats.  Then it drops steeply into Grand Valley.  We didn't go nearly that far, walking probably 2 miles+ out and then returning.

These rock formations are massive.  We were happy to see trails that went between them, not up and over.

The sheer walls occur when sections of rock break off.  The colors are referred to as desert varnish, staining from water running down from the top.

I really like the various colors from gray-brown  of the sage bush to the green of pinon and juniper to the light-colored slash across the rocks. 

The trunk and branches of this dead tree are so interesting.  These tree skeletons are thin twisted fibers of wood.

A view from the road as we drove to our trailhead.

Looking up one of the canyons.

Family on the Western Slope

We have a niece and nephew living on Colorado's Western Slope.  Visiting them has been an important part of the time we are spending here.

One day we visited Becky and Thad in Grand Junction.  Becky has lots of chickens.

In addition to raising chickens, she has a huge vegetable garden.  There are several varieties of squash.  I think this is butternut.

This is a patty pan squash.  I have seen them when watching Food Network shows, but we had never eaten them.

So Becky picked a couple for us.  Boy, are they every good!

Just look at all the tomato plants in front of where Becky is standing.  There are also pea and bean plants. 

 

We moved on to Montrose where we visited our nephew Blake and Julie.  They, too, have chickens.

They also grow flowers and vegetables.  

I

I know this is a zinnia.  I can't name the two flowers above.

These are very hot peppers, we were told.

I think this is a tomatillo plant, but I'm not sure.

We managed a selfie of the four of us.

Look at the beautiful reflections on Blake and Julie's pond.